Another small tale from the wilds of null sec, though this one could have taken place anywhere.
This one involves Ser Fukalite, and you can pronounce that name however you please, who is in the corporation Asteroid Farmers Unlimited, which itself is a member of the Goonswarm Federation alliance.
According to the tale, which was brought up at the weekly fireside meeting this past Saturday, Ser Fukalite’s corp mates somehow convinced them that there was a secret SKIN unlock if you spun your ship in its hangar 10,000 times in a single day.
For those not steeped in the details of EVE Online, ship spinning became something of a cause celebre back during the Incarna expansion crisis. Part of the player explosion was the fact that if you did not want the somewhat awkward, disappointing, and resource hungry captain’s quarter’s experience, you could not go back to the old hangar view. Instead, you were show the door.
The Immobile Hanger Door
CCP was so sure we would all fall in love with the ambulation vision… not so much walking in stations as walking alone in your studio apartment… that they eliminated the hangar view that showed your current ship or pod, replacing it with a static image of a door. This made people angry, something that CCP chief Hilmar couldn’t understand, so he dismissed the player’s anger at losing the feature he derided as just “ship spinning.”
Even after the emergency meeting with the CSM CCP could not bring themselves to acknowledge and practical use for being able to see what ship you were in while docked up, so their statement announcing that they would restore the feature at some future date they classified it as an emotional request.
The CSM helped CCP understand the emotional connection players had with “ship spinning.” They vehemently demanded the return of the feature, which CCP committed to introduce in some form at a future date.
The point here is that when they did finally restore the old hangar view, some canny dev put in a counter so you should see how many revolutions you have spun your ship, should you engage in ship spinning. (Contrary to that link, I almost never hear anybody call is “station spinning,” but I live in a different part of space.)
The spin counter at the bottom of the window
And so Ser Fukalite sat and spun his ship in his hangar 10,000 times in a single sitting, only to find out that there is no secret SKIN unlocked when you accomplish this goal. I am sure his corp mates had a good laugh.
Somewhere along the line, somebody at CCP got wind of this prank and Ser Fukalite’s efforts, and someone at the company issued Ser Fukalite a medal to honor his efforts. If you find him in the contact list in the game you can see that he has a medal awarded to him by CCP.
A little something for the effort
The text of the medal, in case that image goes missing in some distant future.
Medal: Whirling Dervish
In recognition of your relentless spirit and unmatched devotion, spinning your ship 10,000 times in a single day.
This medal commemorates your incredible tenacity and serves as a light-hearted reminder to always double-check the intel.
When in doubt, spin it out
CCP also posted a little blurb over on Twitter about ship spinning, no doubt prompted by this event, which makes me suspect it was probably CCP Swift or one of the community team that put together the medal.
Do you ship spin?
So it goes, another tale from the depths of space. Also, don’t be in any hurry to run out and spin your ship 10,000 or however many times thinking there might be a medal in it for you. This feels more like a one-time event. You’ll have to get pranked in your own unique and embarrassing way to get your medal.
And while we’re on the topic, medals (which are called “decorations” in some parts of the UI, because of course they are) are a somewhat under utilized aspect of EVE Online. When I was given a director role in our old corp, I handed out medals whenever the mood struck me. The problem with medals… which is the problem with corp management and like operations in general in the game… is that the UI is awkward and annoying to use. Still, some groups are pretty committed to medals. EVE University has a whole page on its wiki devoted to the medals they award.
The Ancient Gaming Noob 